James Franco Targets Kink.com in Latest Documentary

Well, folks, James Franco is at it again. In addition to his film Interior. Leather Bar, Franco is producing a documentary about Kink.com, one of the largest purveyors of fetish porn. The film debuts at Sundance next week. Mixed feelings about this documentary are more than justified, but at least he’s hopped off the gay community’s dick for a second.

A tag line for the film reads, “If porn were high school, they’d be the goth table,” which is a pretty goofy line and confirms some of my worst fears. I worry that Franco is working on a “Disney-fied” look at the world of fetish films and that, as such, he’ll avoid any of the intellectual heavy lifting that a proper documentary could achieve. Films like this — that is, Hollywood films that claim to examine subcultures — tend to rest on the fact that they’re doing something supposedly taboo and avoid making the vital kinds of arguments that they might otherwise make. If his career over the past several years is any indication, James Franco is obsessed with his own trendiness, and I’m worried this film will follow his example.
In response to the buzz generated and in anticipation of Sundance, Peter Acworth (founder and CEO of Kink.com) penned a really smart OpEd for the Huffington Post last week, entitled “Why Kink Matters.” In this piece, Acworth talks about Kink.com’s creation, the site’s relationship to publicity, and his hopes for the documentary. For my money, Acworth’s involvement (however vague) is the most promising part of the project.

Where Franco’s project most approaches usefulness, however, is in the way it isn’t particularly indebted to a particular sexuality (gay/straight/bi/whatever). Kink.com, after all, deals in any variety of different sexualities and fetishes, producing several scenes that aren’t even necessarily sexual to the naked eye. I’m hopeful that this widespread approach to fetish will make the film’s arguments more salient and immediate to an audience that will probably mostly be composed of straight folks. Plus it makes Kink feel less exploitative than Interior. Leather Bar.

In spite of the above skepticism, though, I do think this documentary could be really timely and important. As Acworth suggests in his article, fetish still has a lot to teach us about culture, about national fantasy, and about the politics of desire in the 21st century. Frankly, I just don’t entirely trust Franco to handle the subject with anything approaching subtlety or nuance. QueerClickers, I guess what I’m really asking is whether any of you are producers/directors and whether or not you want to collaborate on a competing Kink.com documentary.
Also, if you’re into this stuff, check out our Kink.com sites (Bound in Public is my favorite) and take a peek at QCX for more goodies.
Related Sites
Men on Edge
Bound in Public
Bound Gods
Naked Kombat
Butt Machine Boys